White: Champions Cup warning for ‘naive’ SA teams

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World Cup-winning coach Jake White has compared the European Champions Cup to Test matches, as South African teams debut in the competition on Saturday.

“The Champions Cup is the equivalent of the Champions League in football – competing in it is like playing a Test every Saturday,” said the Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, whose team face Lyon and Exeter in December.

The DHL Stormers meet Clermont and London Irish, while the Sharks play Harlequins and Bordeaux-Begles.

The Bulls launch their Champions Cup campaign at home to Lyon at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, having warmed up for their Euro debut by beating Cardiff 45-9 to move up to second in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

White knows European clubs intimately having guided Montpellier to Europe’s second-tier Challenge Cup title in 2016, nine years after leading the Springboks to World Cup glory in France.

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“We will be coming up against teams packed with internationals. European teams do not just draw from the player pool of their country – they have stars from all the top rugby nations,” he said.

“I fear South Africans are a little naive about what lies ahead. Champions Cup teams are much stronger than those in the URC.

“They boast packs that weigh more than a thousand kilograms, they have brilliant backs. I think we are in for a bit of a wake-up call from this weekend.”

South African players have often been puzzled by refereeing in the URC, and White admitted it was an issue.

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He added: “French Top 14 referees interpret the laws a certain way, while their counterparts in England, Ireland and Scotland sometimes see things differently.

“Any coach in the European competitions understands that. The reality is that you just have to get on with the match.”

Weather can be troublesome for South Africans when they travel, although campaigning in the URC has helped players adapt.

“You play on a bone-hard pitch in 30 degrees [celsius] heat one weekend and experience biting cold, fierce wind and torrential rain seven days later,” said Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith.

However, altitude could trouble teams facing the Bulls as their 50,000-capacity Loftus in Pretoria lies 1, 339 metres above sea level.

A major incentive for the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks is the prize money with Champions Cup winners pocketing one million euros (R18 million).

PLUS: History of the Champions Cup

© Agence France-Presse

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Devin Hermanus